[South Indian Sanskrit MS 034, Whish MS 33] Puranas. Viṣṇupurāṇa

Creator – Śeṣasūri
Language-Sanskrit
Date [1800?]

Re date of manuscript, Winternitz notes ‘Entry by C. M. Whish dated ‘Decr. 1831.’ The Kālayukti (or Kālayukta) year immediately preceding 1831 is A.D. 1798/99, but the MS. may have been written 60 or 120 years earlier (A.D. 1738/39 or even 1678/79).’ Entry is on verso of second blank folio at beginning of manuscript.

Text consists of the Viṣṇu Purāṇa in 6 Aṃśas.

Text begins: om nārāyaṇan namaskṛtya narañ caiva narottamam | Vyāsaṃ sarasvatīn devīṃ tato hayan udīrayet || praṇamya viṣṇuṃ viśveśabrahmādīn praṇipatya ca | guruṃ praṇamya vakṣyāmi purāṇaṃ vedasammitaṃ | itihāsapurāṇajñaṃ vedavedāṃgapāragaṃ | dharmmaśāstrārtthatatvajñaṃ Vasiṣṭhatanayātmajaṃ | Parāśaraṃ sukhāsīnaṃ kṛtapūrvāhṇikakriyaṃ | Maitreyaḥ paripapraccha praṇipatyābhivādya ca | etc.

The 1st Aṃśa ends on f.55, the 2nd on f.76, the 3rd on f.117, the 4th on f.171b, the 5th on f.252 and the 6th on f.276b. For quotations from the end of each of the Aṃśas 1-6, see Winternitz catalogue. Aṃśa 6 ends: iti vivid ham ajasya easy rūpam prakṛtiparātmamayaṃ sanātanasya | pradiśatu bhagavān aśeṣapuṃsāṃ harir apajanmajarādikāṃ samṛddhim || iti śrīviṣṇupurāṇe ṣaṣṭheṃśe aṣṭamoddhyāyaḥ || om hariḥ om || śrī-Parāśarāya namaḥ śrī-Vedavyāsāya namaḥ samāptaṣ ṣaṣṭhoṃśaḥ|| hariḥ om … om śrīḥ viṣṇupurāṇaṃ samāptam || bindudurllipi- … sajjanāḥ || abdesmin kālayuktyākhye jyeṣṭhamāsy aṣṭame dine | likhitaṃ vaiṣṇavam idaṃ purāṇaṃ Śeṣasūriṇā || om.

South Indian Sanskrit / Whish Manuscript Collection.

See ’A catalogue of South Indian Sanskrit manuscripts (especially those of the Whish Collection) belonging to the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland’ by M. Winternitz, with an appendix by F. W. Thomas (London: RAS, 1902) p.40-41. Go to http://tinyurl.com/j3tkdwj for a digital copy of this catalogue.

J. L. Whish, gift of manuscripts collected by his brother C. M. Whish, July 1836.

Text in Sanskrit; Grantha script.